1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to closures or fasteners for garments, curtains and the like, and more particularly to a velvet type fastener tape capable of interlocking with a companion fastener tape. The invention also relates to a method of producing such a velvet type fastener tape.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 2,717,437 discloses a fastening device comprising two woven fabric tapes of the velvet type having a number of hooks raised therefrom. The hooks on one of the two tapes engage with those on the other, making the fastener tapes capable of interlocking with themselves. The hooks of the prior device are provided by forming loops on the individual tape with at least one of warp thread of synthetic resin material and thermally setting the loops formed on the tape, after which the loops are cut on one side of the tape so that each loop produces at least one pile thread having a hook-shaped end.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,235, a fastening device consists of a number of hooks on one of two companion carrier tapes and a number of loops on the other. The hooks of this prior art are formed in substantially the same manner as those of U.S. Pat. No. 2,717,437.
Another known fastening device utilizes a number of mushroom-shaped stems as loop-engaging elements. The mushroom-shaped stems are provided by forming loops on a carrier tape with at least one of warp thread of synthetic resin material and cutting the loops at the top, after which the individual pile threads are thermally treated at the cut ends so that each pile thread has a swelled end.
Thus, according to the prior art, the loop-cutting, which usually requires a complicated and thus expensive cutting machine, is essential to provide the hook-shaped or mushroom-shaped engaging elements, with or without thermal treatment. In addition, the loop-engaging elements of the conventional devices are liable to come out from the carrier tape because they are in the form of discrete pile threads.